7:1 "Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand 7:2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages, 7:3 so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. 7:4 When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise' But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. 7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope. 7:7 "Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good. 7:8 The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone. 7:9 As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; 7:10 he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore. 7:11 "Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 7:12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me 7:13 When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,' 7:14 then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 7:15 so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones. 7:16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. 7:17 What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, 7:18 visit him every morning and test him every moment 7:19 How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit 7:20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind Why have you made me your mark Why have I become a burden to you 7:21 Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be."